The repercussions that ex-offenders face after being released from prison are truly appalling. The burden of numerous court/representation fees, enduring the conditions of poverty due to loss of jobs and resources for which to produce income, homelessness, and the possibility of losing family, specifically the custody of children are all heart-wrenching and preventable outcomes of incarceration. By “checking the box” which solidifies the permanent stigma of being a felon, individuals are often prohibited from job opportunities, barred from receiving government assistance supplements, and ostracized from adequate housing opportunities.
Exclusion from society is not the answer. If individuals have overcome systemic inequality in a judicial system that works against the minority, typically for non-violent drug offenses, suffered through loss of their family, legal freedoms, emotional detriment, perpetuated self-hate, and beyond, there is absolutely no justification for further punishment. Rather than isolating ex-offenders from society, empowering their active participation and involvement is crucial. As a nation, we need to restore their rights, including disenfranchisement, so that ex-offenders are warmly welcomed back into our society. I am in no way suggesting that we embrace their actions, but we are required to discover the mutual connection of humanity and rekindle the kindness and love of our fellow man. By doing this, we can work together as one to help dismantle the stigma and combat the discrimination that is directly associating with prior felons. Furthermore, if we can extend open arms to ex-offenders, we can create a comfortable environment for difficult conversation, in order to learn from their traumatic experiences, we can begin to improve upon the institution itself. Changes often begin on a minute scale. However, those consistent conversations ignite a ripple effect of growth and knowledge at the institutional level that can destroy the perpetual oppression of African Americans who have been trapped into second-class citizenship.
Government entities and bureaucracies should not be provided with the opportunity to collect hundreds of dollars in fees from previously incarcerated individuals. The financial burden that these costs place on ex-offenders who have been recently released often inhibits their future survival, not to mention success. Considering that two thirds of people detained in jails report making less than twelve thousand dollars prior to arrest, being required to pay thirty-five percent (or more) in fines is truly impossible. Not only do these payments accumulate overtime, but if they continue to go unpaid, it can serve as an open invitation to reenter the criminal justice system. So, to recap and reinforce the immense injustice that this new form of social control has taken, we criminalize African Americans as worthless and incapable of success, thereby justifying their marginalization from society. Moreover, we shove them into cages in an assembly line fashion to further the dangerous model that our society has designed to protect white fragility. Lastly, government agencies prohibit African Americans from being assimilated back into society by isolating their reception of benefits and opportunities for shelter and food supplements, to perpetuate a devastating cyclical motion of systemic oppression.
For centuries, our nation has relied on a restrictive form of social control to oppress African Americans from achieving equality. It began with slavery, evolved into Jim Crow, maneuvered through the strides of the Civil Rights Movement, which facilitated the flawless design of mass incarceration, or the New Jim Crow. Furthermore, our institutions were created in order to entrap African Americans in poverty, which also impacts the quality of education they can attain and due to redlining practices, the homes in which they reside as well. Since our society has created a criminally active and aggressive narrative towards Blacks, many have chosen to embrace their stigma and facilitate the stereotypes of their environments. Those who are privileged ridicule African Americans for acting within the script of their race. How hypocritical of us- we are so engulfed in our own ignorance that we cannot see between our own deceit to determine whether or not to accept the stigma we have placed on oppressed groups or to use it as ammunition for further marginalization. African Americans are forced to navigate a colorblind society that ignores their suffering, displaces their significance, and perpetuates their inability to contribute equally to society. Mass incarceration is a unique but powerful mechanism that ensures that white supremacy will reign as Blacks will continue to be reminded that their skin color will never be more than a label of criminalization, worth nothing more than isolation and a meek and self-loathing existence.
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Photo Sources:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25325503/change-the-size-of-checkboxs…
https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/us-prison-population-down-little